Questions spread over payment at Trump rallies

Call it a case of what could possibly be a very different kind of crowdfunding.

The Hollywood Reporter published an article indicating that a casting company offered $50 to actors to take part in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign kick-off rally at Trump Tower.

In a separate case, supporters at a 2011 rally in favor of a restaurant Trump sought to build on Jones Beach at the time told Long Island Business News they had been paid, although they didn’t indicate who compensated them.

These together at least raise the question as to whether people are being paid to take part in rallies, either by organizers or supporters who want to help show enthusiastic, motivated crowds.

The Trump campaign and Gotham Government Relations, a Garden City firm that helped invite people to attend the recent rally and organized some earlier rallies for Trump projects, deny paying people to take part.

Participants in the recent rally carried posters saying “Believe Trump!” and wore T-shirts bearing Trump’s name and the phrase “Make America Great Again.”

The Hollywood Reporter cited an email from Brooklyn-based Extra Mile Casting looking for people to wear T-shirts, carry signs and cheer on the candidate.

“We can’t really help you with this matter,” a worker at Extra Mile Casting told LIBN when asked to comment on the report.

The Hollywood Reporter published an email, which it indicates comes from Extra Mile, a firm specializing in casting extras in TV shows and movies.

The email indicates that Extra Mile is helping one of its “associates out” at Gotham Government Relations for an “event in support of Donald Trump and an upcoming exciting announcement he will be making at this event.”

“We understand this is not a traditional background job but we believe acting comes in all forms and this is inclusive of that school of thought,” the email continues.

The Hollywood Reporter says it is confident the email is authentic. But David Schwartz, a partner at Gotham Government Relations, emphatically denied his firm offered or in any form promoted paying people to take part in rallies.

“I have never heard of this company and I have never paid actors,” Schwartz said of Extra Mile. “ The event drew thousands of people from all over the area and it was great to see many young people, students from so many colleges.”

He said Gotham doesn’t work for the Trump campaign or, currently, for Trump, although it has worked on various projects for him in the past. The firm, he said, send out invitations for the event, but wasn’t hired to work on it.

Although Trump and Gotham say they don’t pay people to take part in these events, supporters at a previous rally for a restaurant Trump sought to build at Jones Beach told Long Island Business News they had been hired and bused to a mid-day rally.

Supporters at the time said they were being paid to attend a Sept. 14, 2011, rally for Trump on the Ocean, a restaurant in which Trump was a partner with Steve Carl.

Supporters brandished hand-made signs at that rally, which Gotham Government Relations helped organize, at the Central Mall Flagpole on the Jones Beach Boardwalk.

“Everybody was called for that. We hit the phones and try to find groups interested in being a part of something like that,” Schwartz said. “We didn’t pay anyone. I can’t tell you if another group did that.”

He added that Gotham typically makes some signs for events it helps organize, but that participants also make their own. “We make a lot of the signs. People make signs,” Schwartz continued. “We tell people to make signs. Of course, we bring signs.”

Schwartz said Gotham contacts numerous groups that may take actions that they believe support causes. But he said his firm doesn’t promote or encourage payment to participants. “I have no idea what other groups do,” Schwartz said. “ We invite groups and they bring people.”

At the Trump rally for Jones Beach, supporters spoke out in favor and some protesters sought to block the project, which never went forward.

“I want government to get out of the way,” Pat Nicolosi, president of the Elmont East End Civic Association, said at the time. “We need to build. We have to build on Long Island.”

2 comments

One question that hasn’t been asked: is he paying these workers off-the-books or is he having them complete a W4 with social security numbers and withholdings? Plus, will he be including these personnel expenditures in his federal campaign finance reports? Only time will tell.

One question that hasn’t been asked: is he paying these workers off-the-books or is he having them complete a W4 with social security numbers and withholdings? Plus, will he be including these personnel expenditures in his federal campaign finance reports? Time will tell.

About the Author

Claude Solnik covers healthcare, finance, and technology/energy for Long Island Business News.